HAFRODs 78 Aeroback Salon build

[HAFROD]

Had to do yard work today so the only thing done to the Salon was putting on old tires and rims and got it off the cement blocks. I cleaned up the garage and moved a crap load of stuff to my shed. I got the Salon in the garage beside my 55. Its hail season so I'm gonna need to get the newer cars under the car port. At least my neighbors won't be griping about a car on blocks.

 

[DRIVEN]

Neighbors can get bent :? .

 

[HAFROD]

Got wound up on a NOS energy drink and a 5 hour energy. A lot of tedious tidbits to do. Started welding up the holes in the doors where the old mirrors were. I used roofing nail heads for the plug and then shave off the nail. I had worked half the firewall before I traded it off. My buddy shot the firewall gloss black without finishing it. Now I have to redo it to get it clean and smooth. I hate the long coarse thread bolts that protrude from the firewall for the gas pedal assembly. I prepped the 3 holes and put a small dot with a sharpie on the head of the 1/4" bolts I used. This way when you go to weld them on, you line the dot up in the center of the hole. It's a good thing I mock up everything. The new clutch lever boot I bought from OPG is not correct for the mounting holes so I had to weld up the original screw holes. I had an old Hurst Olds emblem epoxied on the firewall and had it bodyworked into the firewall. It looked like an embossed firewall. After getting the car back, I found a chunk broke off that emblem so I just completely removed it. The firewall will be painted back a satin black like stock. A lot of work smoothing it just to satin it but its subtle that I'm after. I still have 4 seat belt anchors to repair and they suck to fab.

 

[HAFROD]

 

[88hurstolds]

 

[HAFROD]

Since it rained all day yesterday, I surfed ebay. I bought my roof rail seals and door seals. I had already bought my new inner and outer felt strips a couple months ago. I also bought a set of 442 logo valve stem caps and a brand new hazard switch knob. All the lettering is gone off mine. I'm thinking of building a spoiler for the decklid that looks like the 78/79 Buick Century turbo. I'm thinking of laying it down a bit to mimic an 87/88 Monte SS rear spoiler. I'll build it out of sheetmetal and it will be moulded into the decklid. I'll probably shorten the bumpers and remove the impact strips. With the lower body going to be gold, I'll paint the bumpers gold. This will give the look of the 83/84 Hurst Olds. I'll have to wait to see where to put the stripe because I want the top of the bumpers to be the upper body color. I want a nice even stripe all the way around.

 

[HAFROD]

Whew, what a day. I searched my totes and boxes of engine accessory and brackets for hours. Found a couple of needed parts by accident. I found a brand new in the box transmission mount, new oil pressure sending unit, and a reman pancake style AC compressor. I had about 6 AC compressors here and between all of them, I got all the correct bolts and sleeve. I mocked up a spare 350 to my 4 speed and set them in. When I mocked up my G-body Flowtech shorty headers, the drivers side does not clear the Z-bar. I had a bunch of exhaust manifolds and found a matching set that are a little bigger than the others. I think they're off a truck. They fit and clear everything. I'm kinda glad since now I don't have to be chasing header leaks, burned boots, and that pain in the rear plug changing. I'm going to blast them, smooth them up a bit, and coat them with POR15 exhaust manifold coating. Its been kinda fun going through parts finding the best pieces from my old past G-body projects and parts cars. I ran the engine harness along the lower firewall to floor pan flange using some rubber insulated loom clamps and some short stainless screws.

 

[HAFROD]

Been pretty irritated all day. Its been raining so I cant pull the car out to work on it. The day brightened up though when my door bell rang. It was Fed Ex with my ACC carpet and lower door panel carpets. I was thinking I have almost everything for the car and then it hit me. I need power steering and AC belts, spark plugs, upper and lower radiator hoses, heater hoses, oil, filter, plug wires, wiper blades, and exhaust pipe. Dang it

 

[DRIVEN]

 

[HAFROD]

Did not get but 2 hours of work in on the car yesterday. For some reason, I got talked into going on a motorcycle ride with 2 friends. I did some shed cleaning a few days ago and posted some 56 and 57 Chevy used parts on craigslist and got $200. Going to parts store today with a pretty long list that's pretty much gonna eat up that money. Belts, hoses, fuel pump, heater core, water pump, heater control valve, spark plugs, coolant temp switch, and a balancer repair sleeve. The bad part is, I'm gonna need another $200 for AC hoses, dryer and cycling switch